He attended the Milwaukee Public Schools, dropping out at the age of 13 "to earn his own living... at various occupations" (in the words of his official biographical note).

He was a self-described "unskilled laborer" when he was elected to Wisconsin's 8th State Senate district (the 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th and 23rd wards of the city of Milwaukee) in 1916, receiving 4,945 votes against 3,690 for Herbert H. Manger (Democrat), 3,440 for A. E. Martin (Republican) and 150 for S. P. Todd (Progressive).

[2] In an April 24 speech on the floor of the Senate, Raguse had specifically accused the McKinley administration of having plotted the sinking of the Maine in order to bring about the Spanish–American War, and stated that the same spirit was present at the current time.

However, Raguse refused to sign the statement written by his political opponents, which he deemed a virtual retraction of his Socialist principles, and which implied that his status as a citizen was subject to question.

[5] Raguse later went to work in his brother's welding plant in Rockford, Illinois, to become a mechanic, and was blinded in an industrial accident in which carbide exploded.